The Lion and The Ram
by BlackyAnt
Summary: When Kasamatsu started his last year of high school, he wanted to make it memorable with no regrets. Sounds easy right? NOT! when you have a dark past that you want to forget and a Leap-before-you-Think kinda best friend. A school life full of friendship, mischief, promises, struggles and of cause romance! is waiting for him. Who knew that Kasamatsu was used to be such a stud!
1. Chapter 1

The squeaking of shoes on the basketball court of Kaijo high echoed through the gym disturbing the peaceful spring evening. All the players on the court were soaked in sweat running around passing the ball. It was a fast paced 3 on 3 where regulars partnered with other first stringers. The ball was now on the hands of a first stringer who stopped for a split second to pass it to his teammate. That was his mistake. The second he stopped, the ball was gone…

"Heads up, Kise!" Kasamatsu Yukio yelled as he hauled the ball he's just stolen across the court to the blonde who just broke past his defender and caught the ball. Without missing a beat he drove past the only defender between him and the hoop and dunked it with ease.

"All right! Nice dunk, Kise!" the other teammate of Kise, Hayakawa Matsuhiro shouted as he jumped up and down with overly excitement. "Yeah, that's pretty nice drive you had there. It totally got me." Kobori Kouji, a regular, the Center of Kaijo basketball team, who happened to be the last defender on Kise's opposing team retorted.

"Thanks sempai!"Kise said with all smiles and wiped the sweat away from his forehead.

"Okay guys, that's enough for today" Kasamatsu, the Captain said as he walked towards them. He grabbed the ball that rolling on the floor after Kise's dunk and threw it to a first year on the bench, who caught it surprisingly after fumbling. "Freshmen, stack the balls and clean the court, others hit the showers" Kasamatsu ordered all the while walking to the bench and sat down with the water bottle in hand. The first years on the bench stood up as soon as the words escaped their captain's mouth. "Yes, sir!" And started running after balls. He lifted the bottle up to his mouth and stopped as he watched the guys who just played the 3 on 3 were dragging themselves slowly towards the shower rooms engraved in small chat, including Kise. Kasamatsu put down his bottle. "Oi, Kise!" the blonde jerked his head towards his captain and beamed. "Yes, Sempai?"

"I said, Freshmen clean the court." Kasamatsu pronounced it slowly as he wanted a 5 year old to understand what he was saying and emphasis on 'freshmen as he said that. Kise froze in his tracks and gawked at his captain. "Eh?!" Kasamatsu was twitching as Kise started saying "well, I thought…"

"You thought that you don't have to do things as the rest of the first years because you're one of those so called Generation of Miracles?"

"No, that's not…"

"Or maybe you thought that because you got to play in games, you can get off your responsibilities as a first year? Is that it?"

"Well, maybe… but…"

"Don't get so full of yourself, Freshman!" the next thing Kise knew was that he got hit by Kasamatsu's flying kick! "GHAAH! Don't hit me sempai! I'll do it!" Kise practically flew across the court to the storage room where all the cleaning materials were stored passing all the dumbstruck first years froze in place to watch the scene unfold between their captain and ace. "That brat…" Kasamatsu muttered, stomping across the court towards the showers, without noticing the amused looks on the other two 3rd years. Kobori chuckled quietly as Moriyama Yoshitaka fall on step with Kasamatsu. "Chill out man, at this rate, you'll never find a girlfriend you know." He said in a serious tone, giving a sidelong glance at his friend.

"aahhh!" Kasamatsu put both his hands on his head, now there's only him, Moriyama and Kobori inside the shower room. Hayakawa disappeared into locker room and nowhere to be seen. "It's just that kid pissing me off! Who does he think he is anyway! It's only been a month since he got here, but his behavior's stressing me out!" He leaned back and pressed his back against the cold wall of the shower room, sighing.

"Well, give the kid some time. As you said, it's only been a month right?" Kobori gave him a slight smile and a nod; he stepped in to the shower striping his shirt off. Kasamatsu sighed again and pulled himself up from the wall. "I hope he'll adapt to our system here, you know it'll be a problem otherwise… it'll make our team fall apart…" he trailed off kinda muttering the last part to himself. He took his shirt off and stepped in to the shower.

"ow cold!" Moriyama yelled shaking his hand which he put in to the cold running water before. "just relax man, and then we can all be happy with our girlfriends!" He said stepping carefully inside the shower.

"Neither of us has girlfriends you idiot! And that's way off the topic!" Kasamatsu yelled and threw soap at Moriyama which hit him square in the face. "hey!" he protested but couldn't do anything about it since all the other members including first years started coming inside to take their showers. Kasamatsu gave a toothy grin to Moriyama who just wiped off his face and glared in return.

The three 3rd years were the first ones to come out of the showers and waited in the locker room for others. One by one came and bid there farewells to their sempais and went their respective ways hurriedly since it was almost 6.30 in the evening. Hayakawa was hanging in the corner of the locker room longer than usual and pacing hurriedly back and forth muttering to himself.

"Oi, Hayakawa, if you mutter another word while pacing like that, I'm gonna shove a basketball down your throat in that instant." Kasamatsu said calmly without even looking at the 2nd year, who froze in mid pace and blinked at his captain. Moriyama stifled a yawn and Kobori was busy packing his bag to even notice anything around him. "Just say what's on your mind, damn it!" Kasamatsu snapped now fully giving his attention to Hayakawa who jumped out of his skin in shock.

"Yes, si(r)!"he yelled and stumbled in front of his captain trying to stand straight. "well?"

"Captain! We have ou(r) schoo(l) t(r)ip is schedu(l)ed to go on this weekend! If I attend that, I wi(l)(l) miss the p(r)actice! So I to(l)d my home(r)oom teache(r) that I can't come!" Hayakawa spit out all he was thinking in a one go confusing everyone around him.

"woah, woah, woah…. Slow down buddy." Kasamatsu had his hands covering his ears and wincing at Hayakawa who was literally in his face and yelling. "So you're saying that you can't come to practice this weekend because of the trip?" Kasamatsu just picked up words here and there and put together something that actually made some sense, since whatever Hayakawa was saying obviously sounded like gibberish.

"No! Captain!" the brown haired teen yelled and jumped in frustration. "I'm not going the t(r)ip, because we have p(r)actice!" He tried again a little slower than before and leaned towards Kasamatsu who raised an eyebrow and stared at the 2nd year. "Are you an idiot?" he asked quietly. "Eh?!"

And that's when Kasamatsu snapped, again. " What were you thinking, dumbass?! I mean, you only get the chance to go on the school trip once in this whole 3 years of high school! Basketball practice is important and so is the school trip. Because they are all part of your school life. Winning is important, but so is losing. You'll never get the experience you get in here in any other place again. You don't need any regrets when you graduate, do you?" Kasamatsu took a deep breath. "Now go, you're excused next Saturday."

All the individuals in the locker room were staring at their captain. That included Kise who just came out of the shower room to hear these words. It was foreign to him. He can't really comprehend his new captain's words. Because in Teiko, all he was taught was that winning is everything. If that's true, then what is Kasamatsu sempai saying? Isn't losing is as same as dying? How is that important? Isn't actual school life boring? What kind of experience can I get with that? He remembered how he was bored as hell before becoming basketball player. To him basketball was everything. If he can, he'll spend his whole day practicing. Kise wondered as he stared at his new captain and Hayakawa sempai, who now overwhelmed by those words with trembling lips and teary eyes flown himself at Kasamatsu sempai.

Kasamatsu planted his foot mercilessly in the 2nd year's face and send him a couple of meters away from him. "geez… you really wanted to go the trip, didn't you?" Kasamatsu smirked slightly. Hayakawa was nodding furiously, trying to come up with a reply, but his captain didn't wait. "go on already, Before I kick you out".

"yes, sir!" with that Hayakawa vanished.

"oh man, that reminds me of our trip last year…" Moriyama said smiling broadly. " when we were all in the same class, oh including that guy_"

"don't even think about starting it" Kasamatsu interrupted his friend turning around with a small smile playing across his lips. It vanished as soon as he saw Kise staring blankly. "Oi Kise! What the hell were you doing in there took you long enough!"

Kise snapped out of his train of thoughts and focused his golden eyes on his captain. "Oh, I couldn't find the hair conditioner to go with the shampoo I used. And when I finally find it, it had to wait 7 minutes before washing it away so_" Kasamatsu twitched. Once.

"hey, Kise maybe it's the aftershave you use that attracts girls… hmm, wait." Moriyama leaned towards Kise who was across the locker room. "Are you even growing facial hair yet?". "Sempai!" Kise protested.

Kasamatsu twitched. Twice.

" I'm almost 16 sempai!" Kise said with a pout making Moriyama's grin grew wider. " Okay, if you don't believe me, I'll tell you all about all the aftershaves I used till now, top brand.. " Kise was ranting off still pouting, Kobori just stood there watching his team mates with an n amusing look.

Kasamatsu twitched. For the third time. He couldn't listen to anymore of the bullshit Moriyama and Kise discussing, now that Kise started to list off every product he used and how they use to the greenish haired teen. He was about to tell them shut the fuck up and get going, his phone rang. And Kise's not stopping his rant about aftershave types. The phone was ringing. Kasamatsu took out his phone and checked the caller ID. Oh damn. Him of all people of all times. He tried to calm himself down before answering the phone. He sighed and pressed the answer button and put it in his ear. "Yo, 'sup dude." He talked quietly to the phone, ignoring the background chatter. Kobori looked at Kasamatsu to get an idea about who's calling, and witnessed his friend's face go blank to shock and finally to anger.

"Huh? Are you challenging me?!" Kasamatsu's voice was low and held an incredible edge to it, even Kise and Moriyama stopped their conversation and turned towards their captain. Kasamatsu listened for a moment. " What?! So you're saying that's an order?! Like I'd do that!" he yelled in to the phone. The three onlookers winced at the shrilling tone of him. Kise shuddered thinking who the hell would be that stupid enough to order Kasamatsu sempai around. He'll definitely get kicked or worse!. But when he looked at his captain, it seemed that whoever at the other side of the line had no effect of kasamatsu's words because now he's practically trembling with rage. But as he started to talk to the phone again his voice was incredibly calm it made electricity run down Kise's spine.

"If you insist, you piece of shit. You'll be laughing from your ass when I'm done with you." There was a pause, then he lowered his phone and snapped shut it. Nobody moved.

"AaaaaaaRRRRrrhhHH! I'm gonna shred him into pieces!" Kasamatsu screamed as he punched one of the lockers in frustration and the other three jumped out of their skin as the loud bang echoed through the gym. Kise was utterly shocked. Kobori looked amused for some reason. Moriyama was the first to break the silence. "Let me guess… Yamauchi Ryuu?" Kasamatsu jerked his head towards Moriyama and pointed at him. "Don't EVER say that freaking name in front of me again!" with that he stomped out of the locker room.

Kise regaining his senses after what happened, looked at his two remaining sempais for an explanation. "Sempai?... Who was that?"

"They're pretty interesting, those two.." Kobori stated still looking amused and grabbing his bag to leave. Moriyama thought for a second. " Well, it's kinda hard to believe, but Yamauchi and Kasamatsu are_"

"What the hell are you freaking morons still doing in there?! Do you want me to print invitations for you to come out? Get out now! Or I'll lock you inside!" Kasamatsu's yell prevented Moriyama from completing it, and all three of them came out quickly before their captain go crazy. Kise said his goodbyes to his sempais and hurried to catch his train since it was a bit late, all the while thinking about that guy who could drive Kasamatsu sempai nuts. He must be interesting. He thought with a grin, running towards the train station.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"Everyone gather up!" Kasamatsu called out for everyone on the court after the morning practice. Several days passed since the 2nd years' school trip and Hayakawa still hadn't stop blabbering about every little detail about it. Kasamatsu was glad that they had fun participating to it but couldn't really stand the fast chatter of the 2nd year. He looked around to make sure everyone gathered before starting his speech.

"Okay guys listen up; couch has arranged a practice match with this new school Seirin High. He will tell afterschool today who's gonna play the match. So be here exactly at 3.00 p.m. And the match will be on this Friday. If you don't have any questions, go clean up and go to classes." Everyone dissolved and Kise tapped Kasamatsu from behind.

"Sempai, did you mean Seirin High in Tokyo?" he asked the dark-haired captain in a thoughtful tone. Kasamatsu turned his steel blue eyes towards blonde and raise an eyebrow. "Yeah, why? You know them?"

"Well, if I remembered correctly, Kurokocchi went there!" Kise was all smiles and sparkles as he said that. Kasamatsu looked dumb struck. "Kuro..ko..cchi?" he had no clue what was the golden eyed brad talking.

"Yes! Kurokocchi was my mentor and instructor at Teiko! He was so cool and so cute! Kise was literally dancing around kasamatsu saying how awesome this Kurokocchi guy was making his captain irritate.

"Oi! I didn't ask you about whoever mentors of yours! Stop dancing around or I'll hit you!" Kasamatsu said kicking his kouhai's shin. "Ow! But sempai, you already hit me!" Kise whined while crouching down to grab his shin. Kasamatsu walked away to retrieve his water bottle. "Kise go clean up, let's have a walk before school starts." He said to the whining blonde, chugging down some water. Upon hearing that Kise was all smiles and jumped to his feet, beaming at his captain. "You want to show me around the school?! Sempai! You're so nice!"

Kasamatsu was shocked at how fast this brat can switch moods but after realizing what Kise said he frowned at his kouhai. "Huh? Why do I want to do that? And who do you think I am your personal guide?" Kise looked down. "No, well this school is so big, and I kinda lost couple of times, but... so I thought…" he trailed off making Kasamatsu's frown go soft.

"Okay, whatever, I just want to discuss some things with you. While we're at it I'll show you around here." Steel blue eyed teen turned away from Kise to stuff his bottle in his bag. Kise smiled at his sempai who now turned his back on him, preventing him from seeing Kise's sincere smile. "Yes sir!" Kise saluted as he jogged towards the shower room.

"My (l)ocke(r) is jammed! It's bent in the midd(l)e!" Kasamatsu heard Hayakawa scream in the locker room. "Let me see.., oh man! It looks like something heavy rammed in there..." someone said wondering and Kasamatsu looked at his balled fists and sighed.

Shit, I really have to control it next time. He thought as he headed to the locker room.

15 minutes later they were all fully dressed in their school uniforms and packing their bags. Moriyama came around to Kasamatsu's side and checked his watch. I have approximately 14 and half minutes to scout out the beautiful ladies on the tennis court." Kasamatsu turned away from him disgusted. "Don't involve me in your perverted schemes, moron. Go ahead without me to class, I have a talk with Kise." As he started to walk off to the exit, Moriyama grabbed his coat pulling him back toward him.

"Hey!" Kasamatsu protested feeling Moriyama let go of his coat and casually slung an arm around his shoulders, giving him an odd look. "Are you giving him 'The talk'?" Moriyama asked seriously, making Kasamatsu twitch. "I'm not his dad to give him 'the talk' idiot, besides we're not even… aarrhh! Forget it!" Kasamatsu pushed his friend's arm and walked away.

"I'm telling you, Moriyama_" Kasamatsu turned his head without stopping, to look at his friend, who stood there with a grin. "_if your little 'scout' went wrong again; you'll get something worse than a slap you know."

"Slap? What slap? That was a gentle and soft touch of a beautiful angel!" Moriyama said doing a dramatic pose with his hand on his cheek and all sparkles. Kasamatsu shook his head and stepped out of the gym. "Pitiful indeed… "He muttered to himself as he looked for Kise.

"Sempai! Over here!" Kise waved his hand over the heads of a bunch of girls who flocked around him for autographs. Kasamatsu sighed. "Hurry it up, we don't have much time." He turned away from Kise and walked down the opposite direction. Farther away from the girls is the better. He shuddered at that thought.

Kise escaped from his fan girls and fall in to step with his captain. "Sempai! So what do you want to talk about with me?" Kise asked slightly leaning towards Kasamatsu, who had his hands inside his pockets and a serious look in his face.

"There're two things you need to be a better basketball player. Skills and experience." Kasamatsu continued with a thoughtful look. "Well, that's kinda applicable to many things, what I'm saying is that you can't win only with skills or only with experience." He looked at his kouhai to make sure he understood what he was saying.

"So, basically you're saying that I lack experience since I started basketball in my 2nd year of junior high right?" Kise asked his sempai with a serious tone, which kinda odd for him.

"Exactly." Kasamatsu said with a smirk. "You're not as dumb as you look, are you Kise?"

"Sempai! So mean!" Kise returned to his pouty self in a minute. "Well, if you lack skills you can always improve it through hard work and practice, but as for experience there's no other way other than participating to matches as much as you can." Kasamatsu continued without wasting time.

"But it's different for you "he looked at Kise who looked confused. "What do you mean, sempai?"

"I saw your ability. Call it copying or whatever, but what I think is that you're learning things through what you see, exceptionally fast." Kasamatsu grinned. "So I came up with a method to make you experience without actually play in matches." He looked at his golden eyed companion only to see that he was busy gawking at something over Kasamatsu's head, in awe.

"Sempai! We have American football in our school?! That's awesome!" Kise yelled pointing at the football field which was behind his sempai. Kasamatsu snapped. "Oi! Are you even listening to me when I explained all that idiot!" he smacked Kise's head. "ow!"

"Oi Kasamatsu, my man! Long time no see, bro!" the said man turned his head around to see who was calling him with that familiar voice, and saw a guy who fully dressed in American football gear, running with the ball, waving his hand at him. Kasamatsu recognized him as the running back of their school team, Kurosawa Shin and waved back with a smile.

"Yo Kuro! I guess it's been awhile_ ow..." Kasamatsu's wave froze in air as he watched three, four no five guys tackled his waving friend to the ground, crushing him under them. "That was cool!" Kise shouted in the background, cheering. He saw a tall, lean guy wearing the jersey number 8 made his way in long strides towards the pile of guys.

He shot his arm and yanked that Kuro guy out of the man pile and smashed his helmet with his own and hollered in a hoarse voice. "Who told you that you can wave to random people in the middle of practice! Kuro chibi!"

Kuro winced as he started to say, "But Yama, it's not random people, that's Kasa_"

"I know who he is, idiot!" the jersey no.8 shoved his teammate behind and faced Kasamatsu and Kise. "And you!" He pointed at Kasamatsu. "Don't you have anything better to do other than interrupting my practice, bastard." The guy called 'Yama' crossed his arms in front of his chest and looked straight at Kasamatsu. Kise couldn't see clearly the guys face because of the football helmet, but he could make out that he had piercing jade green eyes and a strong look in it.

Kasamatsu clucked gaining Kise's attention to himself. "So you're saying that your inability to make your teammates focus on the practice game is my fault? Dumbass." He smirked giving him an equally piercing stare. But his steel blue eyes switched to Yama's right side where he caught a quick movement. Kise's eyes practically came out of its sockets as he watched a huge lineman made his way swiftly towards Kasamatsu sempai with a not so friendly manner. "Uh-oh" Kuro whimpered with horror, not wanting to see what's gonna happen.

* * *

This is my first story, so please review! this story is more focused on the school life of Kasamatsu, besides basketball. about all the other things like sports day, cultural festival and his past and his friends. so there will be a bunch of OCs. But mostly about my main OC, Yamauchi Ryuu meaning Dragon inside the mountain! Should I post his profile in next chapter? like his physique and personality? please let me know... :D 3


	3. Character Bible

**Character Bible**

NAME: Yamauchi Ryuu

AGE: 18

BIRTHDAY: March 30

HEIGHT: 183 cm / 6'0 foot

WEIGHT: 72kg

EYE COLOUR: Jade green

HAIR COLOUR: Dark brown

ZODIAC SIGN: Aries (The Ram)

SCHOOL SPORT: American Football (Quarterback)

MOTTO: Never give up, never give in!

FAVOURITE FOOD: Ramen

HOBBY: Extreme sports

SPECIALTY: Singing

APPEARANCE: Messy hair, untucked shirt with first two buttons undone, wears a silver ring in forefinger of his left hand when he's not playing football. Lean and muscular. Always can be seen with couple of friends. Has a piercing in his right ear, but doesn't wear any earring.

ADDITIONAL NOTE: Went to the same Junior High with Kasamatsu Yukio. He entered the Kaijo through the entrance exam with flying colors. He started American Football in High School.

* * *

Yay! Here's the Profile of my OC! Please review... and thanks for those who did! 3 3 :D


	4. Chapter 3

Yamauchi Ryuu noticed few things at once when he felt a quick movement at his side. Yukio's left foot moved slightly back to a certain stance that he knew all too well awhile back. Then his Jade eyes went a little wide as he caught the sight of the blue eyed teen's hands, which he balled in to fists and released quickly. Yama knew in that moment that he's the only one who can notice those little changes in Yukio and that he was the only one who can prevent things from getting ugly.

He swiftly moved forward and stepped in front of his lineman who was charging toward the basketball team captain. "Move aside, Yama!" the lineman growled. "He insulted you right in your face! I'm gonna fill that foul mouth with sand!" he tried to move past Yama, but got pushed back instead.

"Oi oi Taro… now you're being your usual moronic self, aren't ya?" Yama gave a small smirk before continuing. "That guy clearly said that is my inability to keep my boys focused here, right? If you step beyond that line over there_" he pointed at the white line that separated Yukio from the football field. "You're only degrading my ability." He said matter of factly looking at Yukio, who had an odd look in his face as he looked at his balled fist.

"This is stupid_" Kasamatsu muttered to himself and turned to leave. "You better discipline that brick wall of yours, Ryuu." Taro growled at that and wanted to punch him for using his quarterback's first name so casually, cause everyone else called him 'Yama'. _Why it should be different for this prick?_

"Let's go, Kise!" Yama looked curiously at the blonde who was following Yukio , remembering that he noticed something else before too. At the same time he stepped to stop Taro, that blonde stepped beside Yukio slightly covering him. _Ha! He got guts_. Recalling that most people usually get intimidate by Taro, Yama called off the morning practice.

Kise followed his captain trying to figure out what just happened, it was too weird for him to understand. "…Sempai? About what happened just now..?" he trailed off noticing Kasamatsu's distance look. "Huh?" The steel blue eyed teen looked at Kise like he just noticed him there. "Oh" He blinked and looked away. "That's nothing to be worried about. That big guy? He's Hiyashi Taro, he hates my guts for some reason." He shot a glance at Kise and smirked. "I don't give a damn, though. Well, about the method I was talking_" Kise noticed that his sempai just changed the subject smoothly.

"_You're gonna go watch every match held around here, so you'll gather information from watching." He continued like nothing happened. Kise realized that he lost another good chance to learn more about that Yamauchi Ryuu guy who definitely an interesting individual.

"You have to pay attention to each and every players' play style and their team interactions; you have to observe us regulars as well so you can get a better idea about our plays." The school bell went off interrupting Kasamatsu. He paused for it to stop and continued. "Okay, go to your class now. I'll tell you if there's anything else after school. See ya."

"Yeah, sure sempai!" Kise saluted and turned to go. "Oi, Kise!" Blonde looked over at his captain. "The building across the football field has the 3rd and 2nd year classes." Kise's eyes widened as he realized that his captain was actually showing around the school. "My class is that one in the corner of the top floor." Kise watched his sempai pointing to the 3 story building as he continued.

"The building next to it has all the labs and the infirmary at ground floor." He turned to Kise and pointed behind him. "Opposite to the football field is the Baseball field, the Swimming complex is next to it. You can't see the cafeteria from here, but it's behind the swimming complex." Kasamatsu stopped and tapped his fingers in his chin, thinking. "Wait... We'll have our warm up run around the other side of the school. So you can get familiar with the surrounding more."

Kise was more than surprised to hear that since his sempai wasn't so thrilled about guiding him before. "Sempai! You're so nice! And you really think about me!" He was so happy; he jumped at his sempai trying to hug him, but got Kasamatsu's foot print on his face instead.

"Ah! What the hell's wrong with you, idiot?! Go to class already! Before I hit you!" Kasamatsu growled, leaving behind a whining Kise. "But you already hit me, sempai!"

Kasamatsu was sitting in his classroom waiting for the minute hand of the clock to reach 12. He heard his sensei eagerly talking about the consequences of the World War II as he pulled out his mobile phone to read the text he got this morning, again.

_Meet me at the roof top in lunch break, I forgot to bring my bento. _

Kasamatsu snorted_. Yeah, right. Like you ever brought one to school before, bastard. You always eat from cafeteria._ He put his phone back in his pocket as the bell go off signaling that the lunch break started.

"Oh man… Thank god it's over, I was bored to death" Moriyama complained pushing his chair back to stand up. "Let's go, Kasamatsu, I'm starving." He stretched his hands and started toward the door. Kasamatsu followed him outside the classroom and turned to face him.

"Something came up. Go ahead without me, I'll catch you up at the cafeteria in a few." He walked passed Moriyama, who called after him. "What's up, man?" Kasamatsu looked over his shoulder without stopping. "Just that bastard, Ryuu." Moriyama grinned. "Well, look out for his bodyguard, dude! I heard about this morning."

Kasamatsu smiled and turned at the corner to take the stairs which led to the roof top. He opened the door at the top and stepped outside, feeling a slightly chilled breeze across his face. He spotted a dark brown haired guy leaning over the railing and made his way toward him.

"So, where's your bodyguard?" He asked, recalling Moriyama's words. The guy turned his head toward the approaching teen and smirked. Then he pulled out a silver ring from his pocket and held it high so Kasamatsu can see it. "I told him I lost this ring during morning practice, I'm pretty sure he's at the field right now searching for it."

Kasamatsu gave a snort of laugh as he leaned over the railing next to him. "Why do you even hang out with him? You retard."

"He's the star lineman of my team, of cause I'm gonna hang out with him. Like you hang out with that model brat of yours." Ryuu said matter of factly, putting his ring on his fore finger. Several seconds passed with silence as both of them stayed staring at the distance.

"So… what's up?" Kasamatsu was the first one to break the silence. "You know what's up." Ryuu stated, continuing his stare. "Yeah, well about this morning? It was just a reflex, okay? I've got it under control" Kasamatsu said slightly frowning. He remembered how he slipped so easily to that stance he hates so much, in this morning. He sighed. "Besides, I'm pretty sure you were the only one who noticed the change in my stance."

"That's not the point, idiot." Ryuu turned to face Yukio. "Of cause I'm the only one who noticed it. That's why I'm_" He stopped himself from continuing. He was worried. But he'll never admit it in front of Yukio. Ever. That's how proud he is. He never had to before either. Because Yukio could read him like a book. But this time it's different. He sighed. "Is it because the Interhigh is coming up? "He turned around and pressed his back against the railing, looking up.

"I'm gonna get back what I lost last year" Yukio stated. Ryuu knew what exactly happened at the interhigh last year and how much pain that miss pass had put Yukio through. He remembered how, even after coach said that he'll make him the captain, Yukio didn't want to continue doing basketball, because he was afraid that he'll lose control again. Ryuu had to beat some sense into him at that time to make him continue as a basketball player. That was the only time he could punch him without getting punched back.

He knew deep down inside Yukio didn't want to quit basketball, all he wanted was to get punished for what he'd done at the interhigh. For what he lost, he wanted to get punished for the sake of his team. So he decided to punish himself by quitting the very thing he loved all his life. Ryuu wanted to prove him that's not what he really wanted, so he gave him an option.

"_If you're gonna quit now, show me you're better off living with the thing you most hate, the same thing that you say you're best at. Beat me to unconscious right here, right now, you bastard! Then only I accept that you're truly quitting the thing you most love."_

Ryuu smiled to himself remembering that at the end Yukio couldn't land a single punch on him, and ended up getting beaten. He thought that was his punish.

Collecting his thoughts into present, Ryuu put his hands on his pockets and pulled himself up from the railing. "Okay then_" He walked passed Yukio and stopped behind him, looking ahead. "Don't push yourself too hard, punk. It'll only make you lose it. Sports are all about having fun anyway." With that he started to walk toward the door.

Yukio turned at the retreating brunette and clucked. "Could it be… that you're worried about me?" he asked mockingly with a half smirk, knowing it'll definitely piss Ryuu off. The jade eyed teen stopped in his tracks and turned to face a smirking Yukio. "I. don't. Worry. About. Anyone." He said each word separately returning the half smirk. "Actually I don't even worry about myself. The word 'worry' itself_"

He was interrupted suddenly by the sound of the rooftop door opening with a loud bang, making the two 3rd years startle.

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A new chapter! Phew... seems like this will be a little longer than I thought. Anyway please review! :D


	5. Chapter 4

The italics are the thoughts okay... a little short one this time. heheh.. enjoy!

* * *

Kise banged opened the rooftop door and jumped outside. He quickly closed the door behind him, pressing his back against it.

"Phew" he swept away the sweat on his forehead and looked up to find two very confused seniors. Kise blinked. "Sempai!" he pointed at Kasamatsu. "What are you doing here?"

"Huh?" the blue eyed teen pointed back at Kise. "That's my line, you idiot! This is our building!"

"Ah!" Kise put down his hand. "Well, I've got lost." He said meekly as Kasamatsu twitched. "And a bunch of my fans chased after me, so I came up here to escape from them. Hehe...heh." he finished lamely looking at his sempai under his eyes. Before Kasamatsu could say or do anything, Ryuu approached his kouhai.

"Hey you were the one who was with Yukio this morning right?" he leaned forward smirking. Kise blinked thinking who was he talking about, before realizing that 'Yukio' was actually his captain's first name. He gawked at how this brunette just used Kasamatsu sempai's first name and didn't get yelled or kicked, considering the fact that his sempai was all about honorifics. Then he registered the stranger's jade green eyes.

"Ah! You're_"

"I don't think I properly introduced myself before, right?" Ryuu walked towards Kise and casually slung an arm around his shoulders with a sly smile.

"I'm Yamauchi Ryuu, Yukio's long lost twin brother" Kise's jaw literally dropped to the floor staring at the 3rd year.

Kasamatsu rolled his eyes and smacked Ryuu's head. "If I had one, then he's still lost" Ryuu was practically choking with laughter.

"He totally ate that, dude! Did you see his face?! He's dumber than he looks!"

"The way you look right now, Kise actually look brilliant next to you!"

"So... he isn't your twin?" Kise asked meekly. "Oi, don't make me agree with that guy!" Kasamatsu face palmed. _Oh man, I'm surrounded by idiots…_

The sound of banging on the door took the attention of the threesome. "Kise-kun! Kise-kun, you're there right? Kise-kuuunn! Open up! Kiseee-kuunn! The muffled sound of girls shouting could be heard through the closed door.

"No way! They followed me here too?!" Kise backed away from the door with wide eyes. "Aren't they your fans? Why are you hiding from them?" Kasamatsu asked looking bored. Kise looked at his sempai.

"But they want to go to the mall with me afterschool. I refused but they won't listen."

"So basically you're saying that you need an escape route from here, right?" Ryuu asked Kise. His jade eyes held a glint of excitement. "Well, there's this other way to get down from here, if you _really_ want to get out from here." He half grinned leaning toward Kise.

"Now hold it right there!" Kasamatsu grabbed Ryuu's shoulder and turned him so he was facing him. "Are you referring to _that_ route?! No way Kise's gonna make it down by himself"

"Huh? Who said by himself? You're going with him."

"Don't order me like you own me, bastard."

Kise looked between the upperclassmen if they gonna start a fight or something. "Ano_" He was interrupted by Ryuu, who started walking toward the door.

"Well, your choice dude. You can stay here and talk to the pretty _ladies_ on the other side or_" Kasamatsu's eyes flicked to the closed door and he gritted his teeth.

"Fine!" he turned on his heels and stomped toward the railing. _Unbelievable. He used my weakness for girls against me! that punk…_

He looked over his shoulder at Ryuu, who was grinning. "I'll get you for this, punk." He took a running start and leaped over the railing. "Follow me, Kise!" Ryuu's grin widened. _Yeah, if you're gonna stress yourself out anyway, only thing I can do is make sure you have some fun once in a while, you crazy bastard._

Kise was horrified as he watched his sempai literally leaped over the railing of a 3 story building. He ran to the railing and leaned over to get a better look. Nothing. He half expected a falling Yukio, but there was no one. He turned to Ryuu devastated. "H..He he jumped over the rail! Arent you gonna do something?! He.. h..he Va..v..vanished!" Kise was practically squealing right now.

"Oi, Kise! What the hell are you waiting for?! Get down here now, before anyone sees us!" Kise froze.

Ryuu shrugged and gave him a sly smile. "Better do as he says, kid. You don't wanna get detention now, do ya?" Kise stumbled over the railing and looked down to see where Kasamatsu sempai's voice came from.

"Hurry up you brat! I can't wait here all day!" Kise saw his sempai waving at him from a narrow platform below, which was a little inside from the roof. "But how am I supposed to get down there?!"

"Just hold on to the bottom of the railing and swing yourself, I'll call when to jump" Kise carefully put both his legs over the rail and did as Kasamatsu had instructed. "This is kind of fun, sempai!" Kise was laughing, as he swung back and forth. "You'll be laughing from your ass when the janitor or a teacher OR a member of the disciplinary committee sees us, get your ass down here right now!" Kasamatsu yelled out to Kise who then landed next to him.

"Okay, just hold on to the platform and swing yourself to the next platform below and make it quick." With that Kasamatsu lowered himself to grab the corner of the platform and jumped. When Kise landed, his sempai was crouching down. Kise tried to stand up, but got pulled back down by Kasamatsu. "Whoa…!"

"Are you stupid?" He pointed at the window above their heads. "These are classrooms. In case you hadn't noticed, no one supposed to be outside of their classrooms, on _this_ side!" Kise smirked. He got a feeling that even though his captain complained always, he was actually enjoying this.

"Okay sempai! What da ya say? Let's race to the ground."

"Huh? You _are_ stupid, aren't you?" a smile crept up to Kasamatsu's lips. "You maybe a little better than me in basketball, but this? It'll be another hundred years before you beat me on this, freshman." He said teasingly. Kise laughed. "But I'm a fast learner, aren't I?"

Kasamatsu's smirk widened. "If you insist_ you are ON!" he leaped in to the air catching the side of the platform at the last moment and with the momentum he landed on the next platform with one smooth move. Kise followed shortly after, still laughing.

Kise landed on the ground a few seconds after Kasamatsu who was dusting himself up. "You're not bad on your first go, But as I was sayin_"

"STAY RIGHT THERE, You retarded BRATS! What were you thinking? Climbing down the building like THAT!?" Kasamatsu looked over his shoulder to see a fuming janitor stomping toward them across the football field.

"Oh crap, he saw us."

Kise's eyes widened. "No way! We'll get detention!" Kasamatsu shrugged. "Only if we get caught."

"RUN!" he bolted leaving a horrified and confused Kise to gawk after his sempai. "W..what?! Wait up, sempai!" he ran after Kasamatsu who took a moment to look back at the janitor, who was screaming at them to stop. "I said STOP!"

Kasamatsu laughed as he speed up his running. "Just for the record_" He pointed his thumb over his shoulder at the janitor. "_ that guy's running sucks!" they both were laughing as they ran together alongside the football field.

Kise always knew he was missing something. He couldn't pin point which is, but he knew it's something. Even though he's popular, handsome and always has fans flocked around him. He didn't know if it's because of the modeling or if it's just him, but smiling came automatically to him. To him, it's kinda like a pose. He doesn't feel it.

But right now, running behind Kasamatsu sempai while chased by the janitor, not knowing whether they'll get caught or not, he was smiling. He knew it was not his usual pose. He was feeling this overwhelming sensation in his heart exploding throughout his whole body. He knew that he was smiling for real and feeling it. He still couldn't pin point what he was missing, but he got a feeling that he _will _eventually find it with the help of this guy running in front of him.

Kasamatsu didn't stop as he ran into the next building at his full speed. His eyes went wide suddenly taking the view in front of him. _Shit! I'm gonna crash!_


	6. Chapter 5

_Shit! I'm gonna crash!_

Kasamatsu couldn't stop himself at his speed from crashing into the female teacher who suddenly stepped into the hallway. But he managed to step away at the last moment and came to a halt, making Kise crash into him instead, who was two steps behind him. He heard the teacher gave a loud yelp before he turned to apologies.

"Kasamatsu-kun!"

"N-Noriko sensei?!" Kasamatsu said after recognizing his chemistry teacher, who was now looking at him with pure disappointment. _Oh great. Could this day get any worse?_ Kasamatsu thought as Noriko continued to lecture him.

"You know it's highly inappropriate of a 3rd year student like you to run in these corridors like that! Even if it's the lunch break!"

"I'm really sorry, Noriko sensei." Kasamatsu said practically bowing down 120 degrees. "But it's an emergency." He straightened up and looked right at her eyes.

"May I ask you what's so urgent that you had to run like a mad man?" Noriko asked crossing her arms in front of her chest. Kise was standing a bit away from them, fearing if they gonna get caught now. He looked at his sempai, whose face clearly showed concern and worry as he began to talk to his sensei again.

"It's Moriyama. H-He...He has fallen from the stairs, sensei. I…I don't know how, they said that he was taken to the infirmary. I really need to make sure he's okay. I don't even know if he's injured seriously or not." He finished with a frown which held concern and guilt for not being there for his friend. Noriko's hand went to cover her mouth.

"Oh my god! Kasamatsu-kun, hurry up and go, I'm sure he needs you now."

"Thank you, Noriko sensei!" Kasamatsu bowed again before bolting forward with Kise at taw. Kise was impressed. Kasamatsu sempai didn't even bat an eye while lying through his teeth.

They rounded a corner and slowed down. They both leaned to the opposite side of the walls as they panted.

"That... (Pant)... was... (pant)… awesome!" Kise managed to say, catching up his breath. Kasamatsu gave him a half smile. "… yeah, now that we lose both the janitor AND your fans, let's go eat something. I'm starving." He pulled himself up and started to walk down the corridor. Kise looked both his right and left, before following his sempai.

"_ah sempai, I think I don't know where I'm going?" Kasamatsu stopped and looked at his kouhai.

"Really Kise?" it's more like a statement than a question. He sighed. "Oh, well. Come with me then, I'm going to the canteen anyway."

"Senpai! You're really a life saver!" they walked out of the building and stepped to the gravel road. Kise remembered the events took place today from the morning. His mind went to wonder about that jade green eyed brunette_. He certainly has some connection to Kasamatsu senpai. Is he his rival? Or an enemy? A high school bully? Nah. No one can bully senpai. But considering that he acted kinda playfully around Kasamatsu senpai, could it be that he's his… boyfriend?!_

Kise put both his hands on his head and pulled his hair in frustration. _Arrr! How am I gonna ask him THAT?!_

"Oi, Kise" Kise froze. "Eh?!"

"Are you okay?" Kise looked at his senpai, confused.

"Eh? Of cause I'm okay senpai! Why do you ask?"

"Well, because you didn't say anything for like, 5 minutes. And THAT's way weird. You're annoyingly cheerful and pretty much a nonstop chatterbox when you're normal. That's why."

"Oh thank you senpai!" Kise was all sparkles in that second. "That's not a compliment, you idiot!" Kasamatsu kicked Kise on the side. "Now tell me what's on your freaking mind!"

"Ano…" Kise looked down at the floor thinking about how does he gonna start, and then looked right at his captain's eyes.

"What is Yamauchi-san to you, senpai?"

Kasamatsu blinked at Kise. "Whoa… where did that come from all of a sudden?" He raised an eyebrow while giving him a half smirk.

"AH! I'm sorry senpai! Burt I was kind of curious back at the rooftop…" Kise trailed off, leaving a laughing Kasamatsu. "No need to apologies idiot, well he's_" he stopped for a fraction of a second.

"_even though he's kind of an asshole, you could say he's my best friend."

The way Kasamatsu said those words had made something inside Kise twisted. And it was painful. Kise knew that exact moment what was he missing. _Best friends? Of cause they are. I didn't even think of that. _

He was always surrounded by people. His fans and people who called themselves his friends. But they were there because of his looks and his idol status. They were always around him, but not with him. They don't even try to understand him. Only place that he felt he belonged was Teiko junior high basketball team. Even though he only joined in his second year it was fun. They didn't care if he's a model or not. They were always with him for who he really was. An ordinary junior high school student. But it was lasted for a short while. When they all became The Generation of Miracles, they grew apart. Kise didn't want that to happen, but it happened anyway. Friends? They always stay for a little while, and then they are gone, leaving only memories. What's even a Best friend? How can Kasamatsu senpai say that word so lightly, like he has complete faith on this guy? He'll leave one day as well. But how can senpai say that like he entirely trust him? How can he be that sure?

"Kise! What are you doing standing out there?! Hurry up already. Didn't I tell you that I'm starving!

Kise recollected himself before running to his waiting captain. "Sorry senpai, I just thought of something."

"Yeah, whatever."

Kasamatsu went through the double doors of the canteen and scanned inside. "Oi Kasamatsu! Here, here!" he spotted a waving Moriyama along with Kobori and several others from his class. As he made his way toward that table, he saw Ryuu sitting on a far side table with his football buddies. Kuro, who slumped over a chair next to the brunette, spotted Kasamatsu and waved. Yukio gave him a quick wave before catching Ryuu's eyes. He gave him a slight nod and a smirk as to say ' Mission Accomplished'. Kasamatsu restrained himself from snorting at that as he sat across Moriyama.

"What took you so long man! We're literally starved ourselves to death"

"C'mon! It's only been 15 minutes or so" Kasamatsu defended himself.

"Oh Kise! Do you wanna join us for lunch? If that's okay with your friends, of cause." Kise stared at Moriyama senpai as to figure out what to say_. Friends?_ He had to think if he can actually call them that. He was never alone in his lunch. If he was with some people today, then he's with completely different group of people the next day. It didn't matter to him who he's with. He's friendly with everyone, but he didn't trust anyone as a good friend anyway.

"Nah, its fine. They probably think that I'm busy with my fans or something." Kasamatsu gave him a look which Kise wasn't sure what it meant.

"Yosh! Let's start eating then!" a guy with shaved head, who was sitting next to Moriyama, brought out a lunch box.

"Oi, Sawada. Isn't bringing a bento to canteen prohibited?" another one asked.

"Who cares dude? I bought juice anyway."

"Hey what is that? Is that prawns?"

"Oi! Get out of my face! You're violating my personal space!"

"Oh? Do you actually have one?"

"Shut up and eat guys…"

"HEY! What are you doing!? That's my_"

"Don't talk when your mouth's full, you idiot!"

"NOOO! That's my Egg!"

The table suddenly filled with all kinds of talk and complains and laughter, while Kise stared at them with a nostalgic feeling, remembering his time with his old team mates.

"Oi, Kise if you just gonna sit there staring, you won't be able to eat anything, c'mon!"

"H-hai!"

Noriko gathered her books for her next class, which was chemistry and looked at the notice board in the teachers' office. _Oh, yeah. I have to tell them about that today_. She walked down the corridor and entered the class which marked 3-1. "Good evening students!" she said to her class putting down her books at the teacher's table. "Alright, before starting my lesson today, I have an announce_"

Before she could finish, she noticed Moriyama, who was drooling at the girl next to him. "AH! Moriyama-kun! Are you feeling okay now? You can go to the infirmary again if you don't feel very well."

She asked Moriyama, remembering that he fall down the stairs. Kasamatsu's head snapped at his sensei and then turned to look at his friend, who looked a bit confused.

"Of cause Noriko sensei, why wouldn't I be okay in your beautiful and brightly shined presence?" He gave a dazzling smile, while Kasamatsu face palmed.

"No I meant, Kasamatsu-kun said that you fell down from the stairs pretty hard. Well seems like you were lucky enough not to get hurt." Moriyama stole a quick glance at Kasamatsu who suddenly got very busy with his chemistry text book.

"Oh that! No worries Noriko sensei, I'm pretty tough you know. Nothing can hurt me. Even the slightest pain I had vanished as soon as you entered through that door." Several snickers filled the class room to that.

"Okay, then_" _he must have hit his head pretty hard though. _Noriko thought as she returned to her table. Moriyama shot a look at Kasamatsu which clearly read 'You owe me one, dude'. Kasamatsu grinned in return.

"_as I was saying, I have an announcement for you. It's about this year's cultural festival. It's on October 2nd week. But we were asked to inform you this early so you can have more time to prepare for it, since you have final exams and club activities to attend to." She scanned the class which broke into small talk and chat. "Well, discuss with your friends and give your ideas to your class president after my class."

She slammed her books against her table silencing the whole class. "Now, turn your text books to page no.178."

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Please review! I want to know if this story should continue or not... *But I love it so much!* And I have planned to add some interesting things regarding Kasamatsu's past. and there will be fights as well! so let me know okay?!


	7. Chapter 6

Kasamatsu walked down to his school in deep thought. It had been a week since their practice match with Seirin high. It was still kind of unbelievable to him that they actually lost to that no name school which only consisted of 1st and 2nd year students. It was so embarrassing. But he knew a game is a game. If you lose, that means you're not strong enough. Yet. Of cause. But the fact that even more unbelievable than that was Kise has never lost a game before! That's kind of a given since he had been one of the Generation of Miracles, but still!

Kasamatsu had to think of a good way to encourage his players to be more serious. What was that Seirin's four eyes said as he shook his hand? They don't want to confess their feelings butt naked, was it? Huh? Is _that _why they were so determined to win? C'mon! That's not even a valid motivation! Kasamatsu felt so ridiculous as he thought about girls and his team. He ruled out that motive right away, thinking about how pathetically useless his whole team with girls. Well, of cause except for Kise. They can't even form words properly, let along confess their feelings in front of them.

He was in deep thought, that he didn't even noticed before he bumped into a solid wall, making him bounce backwards. "Ow" Kasamatsu brought his hand up to touch his head, where it hit and looked up to see where the hell he was going. His jaw dropped to the floor as he took the sight of what_ no who was in front of hm. The guy he just bumped into was huge! As in the non-green version of incredible hulk. He noticed that the hulk was wearing a black and gold jersey marked 32 with the name Azabu High School printed on it.

_Are you freaking kidding me?! This guy is actually a high schooler!_ He remembered that a few days ago Ryuu mentioned about a practice football game with another school. _This must be them. Oh, man! Even Taro would have trouble handling this guy!_ He thought taking in the sight of this giant who must be at least 6 foot 11 inches tall with a body full of muscles. He wasn't just tall, but wide too. He could easily qualify as a professional sumo wrestler. The said guy searched both his right and left before landing his eyes on a still gawking Kasamatsu.

"Were you the one bumped into me, shorty?" He growled stepping forward with one of his huge legs, making Kasamatsu stumbled back. He regained his balance quickly, before shooting a glare at the big guy. He hated when people say that he's short. Because, c'mon! 5'-10" is a perfectly fine height for a high school boy, it even considered tall in Japan.

"Well, I didn't see you." He restrained himself from saying 'blockhead' after that. Because he so didn't want to piss off another high schooler, specially that particular one just happened to be a 6'-11" tall giant.

"Huh? _You_ didn't see _me_? ME, the tallest one around here weren't seen by a shrimp like you?" then he started to laugh so hard making Kasamatsu disgusted. He gritted his teeth. "Yes, I didn't see you. So if you'll excuse me, I want to get to my class." He said as calm as he could at the moment and tried to get past the laughing bull of muscles, but got blocked instead.

"You forgot to apologies to me for bumping on me little fella." He gripped the front of Kasamatsu's shirt and pulled him forward. The giant hesitated for a moment seeing that the little guy went silent and wasn't showing any protest as he dragged him toward him. The aura around Kasamatsu suddenly changed completely as he gripped the wrist which fisted around his shirt. He wasn't looking up at the giant's face, his half-closed eyes casted downward. "Let go of my shirt, before I break your arm." It was neither an order nor a threat, but just a calm statement with a cold steely voice. It almost sounded as a different person, giving the giant the chills. But he didn't back down because _he _was supposed to intimidate _this shrimp_, not the other way around!

"What? What are you saying, shorty? I can't hear you properly all the way from up here! Bwahahaha!" he started to laugh again to lose the tense a bit. His laugh suddenly got choked as he felt the grip around his wrist getting tighter, making him lose his hold.

"Then why don't you come down here for a second" he stated calmly before shoving away the big guy's hand. The giant's full almost 7 foot frame stumbled back, earning few surprised gasps from onlookers.

"Why you little_" he growled angrily before launch himself toward Kasamatsu.

"What the f*** do you think you're doing, d***head?! What did I tell you about no fighting here, Moron! This isn't our school!" the giant got held back by a skinny, but well-built guy. He had his hair gathered in a ponytail, which bleached in blond and brown streaks. He totally looked like a punk even without the addition of his piercings in eyebrow and ears.

Kasamatsu blinked. He looked at the guy then at the giant. _Shit! Am I losing it again?!_ Then he frowned to himself. _This is not good. _The confusing dark aura around him disappeared as he looked at the new arrived guy, who was looking at him like he was nuts.

"Are you out of your freaking mind, to pick up a fight with this guy?"

Kasamatsu's jaw dropped with shock. _Unbelievable. Are these guys for real? Is that anyway to talk to a stranger, let along from another high school. _

"I didn't … you know what? Forget it." He realized that there was no point in talking to guys like them anyway. "I'm gonna be late for practice…" he mumbled to himself as he started to walk away without realizing that the eyes of the ponytail guy were boring into him.

"Oi, where'd ya_" the smaller guy cut off the giant in mid-sentence as he smirked continuing to stare at the retreating figure. "Do you know how many guys have cold steel blue eyes in Japan?" he didn't wait for the giant to reply. "It's so damn rare, that I can recognize them, anywhere, at _any time_" he finished with a spooky low voice widening his smirk.

He watched Kasamatsu disappeared around a corner, with an evil glint in his eyes.

_Heh, found ya… Arashi._

Ryuu was putting his shoulder pads when the locker room door crashed open, revealing a panting Kuro. He looked as ran a 5 miles straight.

"You're late, Kuro chibi! 10 laps after the practice game." He said dragged on his no.8 jersey over his shoulder and chest pads. Tossing his bag aside, Kuro made his way inside.

"Yama! What the hell is that school?!" he asked his quarterback, frustrated getting all the boys' attention towards him. "They're a bunch of freaking delinquents, man!"

"Really? Now _that's_ interesting. I thought this game'd be so boring. But now I'm getting excited! Oh, yeah." Yama bend down to tie his shoes.

"What?!" Kuro lifted his hands, and then let it fall down on his sides.

"Don't be such a wuss. I'll reduce the number of laps down to 7 for that exciting news how's that, Kuro?" Yama looked up with a smirk to see the running back shook his head. He came over and plopped down next to Yama, lowering his voice so only they can hear.

"They look like they came straight out of juice, bro. And there's this Huge, hulk material dude. If he's playing offensive line, you're doomed."

Yama balled his fist and smashed it lightly but powerfully against Kuro's chest, looking right at his eyes. "Then make sure that wouldn't happen." With that he grabbed his helmet and slung it over his shoulder as he walked toward the locker room door.

"Hurry up and change guys, we've got some delinquent asses to kick. Now wouldn't that be awe~some, huh?"

"Hell yeah!" they roared.

5 minutes passed since the start of the practice game. Ryuu waited at the bench until their chance to play the offence again. The result was 7-0 Kaijo in lead, since they managed to score a touchdown in their previous offence. It always felt weird to him to play in full uniform and not hearing the cheering squad screaming their name, 'Kaijo Blue Sharks'. He liked that name, since it suited their team the best. Blue Sharks were specialized in speed. There wasn't a single team in Kento region to beat them in their quick plays and game strategies, even though they lack a bit in their defensive side.

He looked over at the other team's bench and decided they were indeed a bunch of delinquents. Every one of them either had piercings, tattoos or at least bleached hair. Not a single normal looking high schooler. As he watched, he realized that they didn't even have a coach. Their quarterback, a guy with an eyebrow piercing and a blonde streaked ponytail was the one who barking orders. _How the hell did they managed to get a practice match with us?_ He wondered staring at the opposing team captain. As on cue the said guy turned his head toward Yama and looked straight to his eyes. Even though he was more than 20 yards away, Yama could feel that his eyes bore right into him.

The ponytail guy suddenly called out for a timeout, turning away from Yama, who left feeling uneasy. He only knew this team was from Kansai region, probably a newly formed one since he heard the school's name for the first time. But he could swear to god that somehow this ponytail guy looked familiar in a creepy way. And he got a feeling that guy knew him as well.

It was finally their turn to play offence. Yama put on his helmet as he stepped inside the football field.

"Huddle up!" as soon as he shouted his team huddled around him. "Guys, only one thing to do. SHRED 'EM TA PIECES!"

"HELL YAEH!"

Yama shouted out game plays in coed as the players scattered around the field accordingly.

"SET! Hut, Hut, HUT!"

Taro snapped the ball to Yama who caught it and pulled back his hand high and above his head ready to throw. It'll be a quick pass to Kuro, who's supposed to pass it back to him, so the other team would confuse, and break away from the side. He had nothing to think about since Kuro was exactly where he wanted him to be. He was about to throw the ball when he heard a low chuckle.

"I've met your friend, Arashi… but I couldn't greet him well, you know. So disappointing."

Yama didn't know where the voice came from, but it made his whole body go numb. _Arashi?! It can't be… no one knows about Arashi, after all this time… how can anyone even remember?!_ He turned his head to the side catching the sight of a manically grinning ponytail guy. Then it hit him like a lightning bolt, why was that guy looked familiar. His face twisted with anger, he even forgot that he still holding the ball. _Why the hell you came back, Akuma! You motherF****r!_

Because of his split second of delay to throw the ball, the giant of the Azabu high team pushed back Taro, and charged toward Yama crashing him to the ground. Yama heard a snap sound loudly in his ears. Then he felt the shocking pain shot from his right arm spreading throughout his whole body.

The giant who's crushing him lowered his head so that only he can hear him. "Consider this a nice, warm greeting to your friend, asshole." Then he grabbed Yama's helmet and smashed it against the ground.

Only one word went through his mind, before Ryuu slipped into cold pit of darkness. _Yukio…_

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_I_ don't know much about football, so sorry if I got it wrong... and Arashi means Storm. it's kind of an alter ego in this story. You already know whose alter ego is that... Lol! Please review! reviews are kind of my motivation to write! Kasamatsu, I know you're a badass underneath!


	8. Chapter 7

If any of you wonder why Kobori's MIA, it's because he's in another class. Kasamatsu and Moriyama are in the same class. tee-hee!

* * *

Kasamatsu was twirling his pen, looking bored. Even though it was a Math period, he couldn't help but feel so damn bored. Why of cause, he liked Math since it didn't have much to study like Japanese History and he's quite good with the numbers. What he couldn't stand about it was his sensei. He's kind of a jackass who likes to give out punishments if he doesn't like the way you walk.

Kasamatsu was sitting at the back of the class next to windows, which gave him a full view of the football field below. He constantly snuck a peek at the practice game going on there, he couldn't risk of getting caught while not paying attention to Toshima sensei's class. He's now giving out problems for them to solve, differential calculus, well piece of cake to Kasamatsu anyway. He did the exercise fairly fast and began to twirl his pen again. But he wasn't so lucky this time, because it slipped through his fingers and flew across the class room. _Oh great._ He was too lazy to get up and pick the pen up, so he looked down at the football field instead, just as to see the giant who encountered him this morning charging toward Ryuu. Kasamatsu watched, panic rushing through his body as his best friend crushed under the weight of that damn hulk. He automatically sprang up from his chair, crashing it down to the floor. He pressed his hands against the window, trying to get a better look. The other players started to surround Ryuu and couple of students ran inside the field with a stretcher. _Shit!_ Kasamatsu slammed his fist against the window in frustration.

"What the hell do you think you're doing Kasamatsu?"

He barely heard Toshima sensei scream behind him as he ran across the classroom and into the hallway. Moriyama watched his friend bolted out of the class, dumbfounded. He didn't know why, but he's pretty sure something disturbing just happened, if someone as level headed as Kasamatsu made run around like a mad man. He pushed back his chair and stood up.

"Sensei, I really need to go to the bathroom." He said, walking toward the door, backwards.

"NO! You can't, go back to your seat." Toshima pointed at Moriyama's vacant seat with his chalk.

"But it's re_"

"NOW!" his sensei was glaring daggers at him as he screamed.

Moriyama flinched and slowly stepped one of his legs back, ready to escape. "Ah, sorry sensei, but it's urgent!" he shouted just before he slipped through the door and ran at full speed after Kasamatsu.

"Both of you! DETENTION AFTER SCHOOL!"

_Kasamatsu! You better have a good reason for this!_

XXXXXXXXXX

Kasamatsu and Moriyama broke though the double doors and came outside, just as to see an unconscious Ryuu taken away on a stretcher.

"Oh man, is that Yamauchi? He doesn't look so good dude."

Kasamatsu squinted at the brunette on the stretcher, worry splashed through his whole body although on the outside he looked as emotionless as ever.

"His right arm's looks like it's twisted. Maybe dislocated. He'll be taken to the hospital if he won't regain his consciousness." He pulled his eyes away from the stilled body of Ryuu to look over at the football field, where he spotted Kurosawa and several other players talking. He broke in to a jog toward them, leaving Moriyama behind.

"Kuro! What happened?" placing his hand on the running back's shoulder, he asked. Kuro blinked down at him, before grabbing him from his shoulders and started rattling off.

"Kasamatsu! It's Yama! H-He…"

"I saw him." Kasamatsu cut him off curtly. "And that twisted arm of his."

He frowned and pulled Kuro closer to him, so he can lower his voice down. "You and I both know that he's not a slacker to wait for a freaking hulk to crash into him and broke his arm. Did you see what _really _happened?"

Kuro brought down his eyebrows together in thought.

"I-I don't know, man. I was a bit far, but I'm certain there was no reason for Yama to be hesitated. It was all planned out play."

"He hesitated?"

"Yeah, bro. For full two seconds. And that's more than enough to get screwed up, like he did."

Kasamatsu looked over his friend's shoulder and saw their coach yelling at Taro, who seemed at the verge of destruction. Oh, well. He kinda saw that coming, since the big line man always acted like a well-trained puppy around Ryuu. Now that he couldn't protect him, he must be feeling like crap. Kasamatsu turned his eyes at Kuro again and patted his back.

"Well, I gotta go. Seems like you're about to start the match as well." He said gesturing toward the coach, who was barking orders.

"Get your asses down here, you damn morons! We still have a game to finish. Where's that freaking second string quarterback?!"

"Yeah, I better be going there, bro." Kuro said glancing over at his coach. Kasamatsu noticed a hint of sadness in his voice.

"Oi Kuro, it'll get a lot more than a broken arm to kick that bastard out of the game for good. He'll be recovering in no time."

He wasn't just saying it, he knows it. Otherwise Ryuu won't be in here at Kaijo with him right now. But this was the first time in a long while that got him unconscious.

"Yeah, I know man." Kuro gave a small smile before jogged away.

Kasamatsu found Moriyama hanging around the infirmary entrance talking to a couple of guys, who he recognized as the ones brought Ryuu in the stretcher. Moriyama spotted him and quickly wrapped up the conversation he was having and jogged over.

"They took him to the hospital a few minutes ago; he wasn't regained consciousness then even."

He fell into step with Kasamatsu as they exited the infirmary building.

"Hmm, must have hit his head when falling."

XXXXXXXXXX

The rest of the classes went normally without any interruptions. The news of Ryuu getting hurt during practice match went through the whole school like a wildfire. He was quite popular. With his good looks and cool bad boy persona. Girls dig him. So the news shocked most of the school. But it didn't reach Kasamatsu's class by him and Moriyama, as far as their classmates know; they were gone to the bathroom. Together. Yes, humiliating.

Finally, the last bell rang. Moriyama gathered his books together before approaching Kasamatsu who slung his bag on his shoulder, ready to leave.

"Kasamatsu, are you gonna visit him after school?"

Kasamatsu looked up at his friend and averted his gaze down to the football field beyond the window.

"No." he paused before continuing.

"Interhigh's only less than two weeks, we can't afford to miss practice."

He pulled his steel blue eyes away from the window and started toward the door. Moriyama knew that he was dying to know Yamauchi's condition, but he was the captain of Kaijo's basketball team. It made him priorities his responsibilities despite his feelings. He knew that Kasamatsu would never be an irresponsible captain even if he died. Sighing, he followed his friend_ only to get stopped by their math sensei.

"Where do you think you're going?" he bellowed, blocking their path.

"Eh? Um, for club activities…?" Moriyama put in sneaking a glance at Kasamatsu, who was looking at Toshima sensei, confused.

"WRONG!" Toshima shouted in his students faces making them cringe.

"because you two were so eager to go the bathroom this morning, maybe you'll enjoy the next hour cleaning them, right?" he said giving them an evil smile.

The two 3rd years looked at each other before gave in and sighed.

"Yes, sensei."

XXXXXXXXXX

_It hurts. Why does my head hurt so much? Did I drink last night? No… wait._ Ryuu realized that he wasn't fully awake yet! _Oi Ryuu wake up._ He commanded himself, desperately trying to open his eyes. _Wake up! I said wake the fuck UP!_ His eyes fluttered open wide to see…white? _Huh?_ He averted his eyes left to right without turning his head, which was still hurting a bit.

He came to the conclusion that he was in some kind of small room and the white was the ceiling. With green curtains. Wait. A room with green curtains? _I'm in a hospital_. He frowned trying to remember why he's in here in the first place. He slowly turned his head and took a look at his right arm. It was bandaged all the way from his wrist to his shoulder. He tried to move it, but it felt heavy and painful_. Oh yeah, I got crushed under a really big douchebag._ His head hurt and he realized that he had fell asleep after he regained consciousness_. Must be the pain killers_.

"_I've met your friend, Arashi. Consider this a nice greeting for him, asshole."_

Those words, which he heard just before losing his consciousness came into his mind, making his body go numb. _Those fuckers_. He growled in his mind. _I wonder if he's okay_… An image of Kasamatsu filled his mind. "Yukio…"

"Huh? You awake?"

"GHAAaaaaaHH!" Ryuu snapped his head back away from Kasamatsu's face, which was inches away from him.

"What the HELL are you doing, you punk! Scaring me like that! You made my head hurt twice as it already is, idiot!"

Kasamatsu was dosing off at the side of Ryuu's bed, sitting on the floor, propping his back against the wall before hearing his friend call him. He pulled himself up to a standing position, stretching his hands above his head.

"Huh? Scared you? What are you saying; you were the one who called me first."

He stopped in mid-stretch and turned to look at Ryuu.

"Wait. Were you sleep talking then? So you were dreaming about me huh?" a smirk creped on to Yukio's lips making Ryuu frown harder despite the pain in his head.

"Are you out of your mind?! Why the hell would I dream about a crazy bastard like YOU!"

Yukio let his hands fall to his sides as he walked toward his bed and sat at the corner, eyes fixed somewhere beyond the window.

"How should I know, idiot. It's your dream."

Ryuu took a moment to examine his best friend. He didn't look sad or worried. Somewhat looked revealed and relaxed. Those same steel blue eyes of his now gleaming in the rays of the setting sun, once had hidden behind long strands of his hair, cold and dull_. I would never let it go dull again. Ever. _Ryuu let out a sigh quietly, closing his eyes for a moment.

"What the heck? You came all the way down here just to make my condition even worse? Huh? Huh?"

He said kicking Yukio's back repeatedly until he got away from the bed. It was already 7.45 in the evening. Ryuu knew everyone has to be in the dorms before 8 o'clock or they'll be punished. He didn't want to get Yukio in trouble because he visited him this late.

"Tch… why the hell I even bothered to check up on you. Seems like you're all good, if you can kick and scream at me like that, bastard."

Kasamatsu bend down and picked up his school bag, slinging it over one shoulder. Without any other words, he walked over to the door and slides it open, his back facing Ryuu.

"Hurry up and heal already, or else you'll miss out on the Interhigh."

"Huh? Are you kidding? I'm totally going to the finals."

"Yeah, you better be, or I'll personally kill you."

The door slide shut behind Kasamatsu, leaving Ryuu to stare at the closed door with a smirk. _You could've just told me that you're worried, idiot_. He averted his jade green eyes at the setting sun. _Nah… that would be way weird anyway._

* * *

In this story, Kasamatsu is living in the Kaijo dorms. you'll get to know why later. lol! reviews are welcome all the time! if any of you wondering, Ryuu's arm was dislocated in elbow. no serious damage done. :) Interhigh is coming in next chapter.. Yay!


	9. Chapter 8

_**I wear my heart on my sleeve**_

_**If you cut me I'll bleed**_

_**I know I cannot erase**_

_**Every mistake that I've made**_

_**I never said I was an angel, no**_

_**I never said I wouldn't break down**_

_**But life keeps on moving**_

_**By now you should know…**_

…_**I'm only Human.**_

The Interhigh preliminaries were over in a flash. They were all easy for Kaijo. The whole team was in high spirits as well, when it finally came down to the quarterfinals vs. Touou Academy. But for some reason Kasamatsu was feeling uneasy. That's why he told Kise to call him 5 minutes before the start of the game. He needed some peace of mind. His mind freely roamed around the memories of last year's Interhigh. Yes, he made a huge mistake that he can never get away from. He had yet to thank Ryuu for making him realize how much he loves this sport and for beat some sense into him. It helped him to move on without regretting that mistake. All he had to do was getting back what he lost last year.

Now he has lead his team to the top 8 in Japan, already securing a place in Winter Cup. This was the first serious game they're gonna play in Interhigh so far, with a team who has a GoM like their own. He heard from Kise that Aomine Daiki was the Ace of GoM, well, that'd be troublesome. But Kaijo was strong too. Kasamatsu sighed. He don't have time to worry anymore, now that it's come down to this, he's gonna give his all for Kaijo, in this game.

XXXXXXXXXX

"GAME START!" the whistle blew, starting the quarterfinals.

Kobori managed to get the ball for Kaijo in the tip off, which Kasamatsu caught and passed to Kise. But Aomine stole it from behind, resulting Sakurai scoring a 3 pointer, getting the first points for Touou. Kise tried to copy the quick release of Sakurai to score, but unfortunately got it blocked by Aomine. They were at it from the very beginning. A game between two Generation of Miracles.

_We already have the control over the quarter_; Imayoshi thought as he dribbled across the court, he was utterly shocked when it suddenly got stolen from him.

"We're not generous enough to hand over control that easily!" he watched as Kasamatsu jumped up releasing the ball he has stolen from him.

_There's no way it'll go in from that far! _

_Swoosh! _The ball went through the hoop, getting the first points for Kaijo.

"Defense, let's stop them!"

"Yeah!"

XXXXXXXXXX

The first quarter ended 18-13 Kaijou in lead, but they caught up in seconds when started the second quarter. It was a high paced game from the start, they already started to sweat. Kasamatsu knew if they didn't do anything fast, Kaijou's gonna lose. Kise got blocked again and again by Aomine. He truly was a monster. They were having a time out, but they didn't have anything to talk about. He looked over at Kise to make sure if he's okay. He was playing against one of his former teammates, one of his friends. But he wasn't so sure about the second one now that he saw how aggressively Aomine go against Kise. He frowned slightly noticing a certain look in Kise's eyes, which he knew so well sometimes before. They used to look at him with that look when he was in middle school. The look of admiration, idolization, the look you get when you look up to someone. Kise was staring at Aomine with the same look. Kasamatsu bit his lower lip. _This is not good. You can't fight him, if you're admiring him idiot!_

Several minutes passed after the start of the second quarter. Aomine going as aggressive as ever, scoring like he changes clothes. The different between score was getting wide. Kaijo had to do something fast.

"Charging! Black no.5!"

Aomine shocked when he felt hitting a guy came out of nowhere; he didn't notice him at all.

_Huh? He's good… no, more than that, he's got balls._

"You've really done it now, _Sempai_."

Aomine offered Kasamatsu a hand, remembering how this guy took over the first quarter going against that evil four eyes.

"What? You just hit a guy, what's with the attitude, brat?"

He really couldn't stand the way he was calling him 'sempai'. Makes him want to punch his face in.

"That's our captain! Nice_" Hayakawa threw himself at Kasamatsu.

"Shut up!" he actually punched his teammate instead, oh well.

XXXXXXXXXX

Much to Kasamatsu's relief, Kise was able to overcome his fondness of Aomine and began to copy his moves, not just moves but his entire style. Now begins the real battle. Two GoM, fighting against each other, it's all-out war. It's even hard to keep up with the speed. The tension building up between the two teams was so intense. They were nearly out of their breaths. It was nearing the end of the 4th quarter. The score board said 98-108, 10 points gap in one minute? But Kaijo wasn't ready give up yet.

_This is our last chance… _

Kise thought as he advanced toward the hoop, jumping up.

_I kind of get what Kurokocchi said about playing as a team. I really want to win this. Not just me. With everyone. They believe in me. I'm not Kise Ryouta of GoM anymore; I'm the Ace of Kaijou!_

He held up the ball as Aomine jumped up to block him. Kise suddenly turned his hand and passed it to Kasamatsu who was behind him, _ if only he could.

Aomine turned swiftly in midair and slammed his hand sending the ball off court.

…_wha.t… was that?_

"You did a grave mistake, trying to copy my style Kise. It's not for team play."

He barely heard those words.

_Why? I… I lost my last chance…_

"What are you spacing out for, idiot? The game is still going!"

Kise came down to reality as he heard Kasamatsu's voice and his light punch on the back of his head.

_Yeah… I won't give up._

Even though Kise tried his best he couldn't beat Aomine in the end. The score board said 98-110. They lost yet again.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Huh? Where's Kasamatsu sempai?"

Kise asked looking around for his captain. He thought he was coming behind, but he wasn't.

"He told us to go on ahead" Moriyama replied, glancing at his kouhai.

"I'll go check on him" Kise turned and started to run the way they were came from.

"No, don't go back."

Kise stopped at his sempai's hurried reply. He bit his lip. Trying to ignore the rising pain in his chest.

_He's right, I can't go back now. If I have time for that, I should use it to move forward, even one step. _

XXXXXXXXX

Yamauchi Ryuu looked over at their Basketball team, who just exited the stadium. He squinted at them, but couldn't find any sign of Yukio around them. He crossed the street without getting noticed by his school mates, and ran into the stadium hoping to find his best friend.

He got discharged a week ago, and all good now, though his doctor told him not to do any heavy work. His team had advanced to the quarterfinals without him. Of cause the preliminaries were a piece of cake anyway, for a team like his. His coach told him to get rest, so he can be at his best when he finally gets to play against a strong team. He was worried though, not about his team or his right arm, but about Yukio. He knew Azabu high is here for the Interhigh. From what he heard from his teammates, they had also qualified for the quarterfinals. There was a high possibility that they'd be here to get Yukio, well more accurately 'Arashi'.

He wondered how they even managed to find Yukio, since it was already been three years and the steel eyed boy was way different back then, almost like a whole other person. Calm, cold and dangerous… just like a storm. You wouldn't even know what hit you. He shuddered at the memory of his best friend's old self.

Ryuu walked past a few locker rooms before stopping in front of the one with the Kaijou name plate on it. Just as he reached for the door handle, he heard something slam against a locker and stopped to listen to muffled sound of silent sobs coming from inside. He took his hand away from the handle and leaned against the wall beside the door, casting his eyes downwards. _Heh, I'm glad Yukio… if you can cry for things like this, you've really changed, punk. _He put his hands in his pockets and looked up, resting his head on the wall. A smile playing on his lips. _Yeah, we're only high schoolers anyway._

XXXXXXXXXX

Taking a deep breath, Kasamatsu opened the locker room door and stepped outside. His eyes went a bit wide when they landed on the figure leaning casually against the wall.

"Wh_what are you doing here?"

Ryuu noted that there wasn't a single sign that he had been crying. _Hmm impressive_. He looked completely normal.

"Eh, why? Can't I come and watch a basketball game on my free time? This is a free country, you know…"

He said shrugging.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever…"

Kasamatsu wasn't in the mood to get into an argument with him right now, as they always do. His coming here was kind of suspicious than surprising, considering he never show up to watch any of his games before. But he let it slide this time, because he was so tired to even think it through.

"I'm gonna grab a drink, wanna come?" Yukio asked stuffing his hands in his pants as he started to walk away. Ryuu grinned.

"Oh yeah. Your treat, then." He casually slung an arm around Yukio pulling him closer_ then wrinkled his nose at him.

"Dude, you stink."

A vain popped in Yukio's forehead and he pushed away the green eyed teen.

"What? Am I supposed to smell all flowery after a 40 minutes of high paced basketball game? Huh?"

Ryuu made a face. "God, no. that'd be even worse. you, smell like flowers? no way."

He gave a snort of laugh before putting his arm around Yukio again. The steel blue eyed boy tried to push him back but the other guy held tight not letting him go.

"What's your problem? Get away from me, you moron."

"C'mon! I have to stick close to you, since you're treating me to a drink right?" he paused. "Even though you stink… like a pig."

"Who said I'm gonna buy you drinks, Idiot…! Tche, you're annoying."

"Yeah, yeah… I hate you too."

* * *

The verse on the start is from the song Human by Manafest. I had to go through episodes again to write this chapter... ahh. :) heheh.. but I guess it turned out fine. pls review! I wanna know your opinions guys!


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